Extract from the Prelude - William Wordsworth

context
1. extract from 14 books that make up "the prelude", titled childhood and school-time
2. romantic poet - appriciation and love for nature - exploring connection between natura and human emotion
3. looks at the way the way human identity is shaped by experience
4. changed the way people thought about the natural world
5. believed nature controlled mankind
6. born in the lake district, influence on his wrtting
content
1. begins on a summer evening when the narrator finds a boat tied to a tree, unties/steals it to take it out on the lake
2. initially seems happy and confident, descrtibes beautiful scene - mountain appears and changes to fear of its size and power - realisation
3. turns the boat around and goes home, changing his view of nature
form
1. first-person narrative, personal and describes turning point in poets life
2. use of blank verse (unrhymed verse in iambic pentameter) creates serious and important tone
3. regular rhyme scheme makes it sound like a natural speech
structure
1. three main sections, 1 - tone is light and carefree, 2 - distinct change when mountain appears, darker and fearful, 3 - reflects on how expeirence has changed him
language
1. beautiful
  1. poem begins with a series of prettym pastoral images of nature, reflecting his appriciation
2. confident
  1. appears sure of himself at first, almost arrogant in his view of himself and place in the world, feels powerful
3. dramatic
  1. initial glimpses of threatening language become more intense after mountain appears - power of nature
4. fearful
  1. far less confident at end of extract, troubled by the "huge and mighty forms", hsving a lasting, haunting effect on him
attitudes
1. confidence
  1. the narrator feels comfertable and in control, but shaken by his realisation of the power of nature
2. fear
  1. nature is shown to be more powerful than human beings, left with feeling of awe and respect, but also scared by nature
3. reflection
  1. ends with narrator reflecting on how hes been changed by the event, thoughts and dreams troubled by this
unclear identity, earlier poem suggests nature has been personified to express its power
1. "led by her"
showing the inferiority of man-made ideas in contrast to nature, idea of it being controlled by the tree
1. "little boat tied to a willow tree"
sense of desperation due to stealing the boat, portrays his appriciation for nature
1. " I unloosed her chain"
secretive and guilty pleasure, knows what hes doing is wrong yet desire is so great he disregards it, proves weakness of man
1. "it was an act of stealth"
succession of the sound "I" creates a flow, mirroring the boat flowing gently through the water
1. "leaving behind her still - until they melted all - of sparkling light"
self-confidence/arrogance, ironic as he later looses all confidence, contrasts
1. "proud of his skill - with an unswerving line"
emptiness contrasts with line 22, when he looks at horizon again, making its appearance seem more shocking and powerful
1. "the horizons utmost boundary, far above, was nothing but the stars and the grey sky"
metaphor of a "fairy boat" makes scene seem magical and otherwordly, but still not threatening, idea of a small boat, inferior to nature
1. "she was an elfin pinnace"
"when" - sudden and abrupt change/volta representing shock, surprise to him
juxtaposes insignficance and smallness of boat and the initial boundary, is almost intimidating
1. "a huge peak, black and huge"
mountain personified, creates an ugly image that contrasts to the previous imagrey of the boat "elfin", "swan"
1. "upreared its head"
as if narrator is trying to escape yet is unable, like a nightmare
1. "I struck and stuck again, and growing in still stature"
sibilance creates a synister tone, as if a nightmare
1. "struck, still, stature, shape, stars, still, seemed"
mountain is calm., powerful and in control, contrasts with the narrators fear
1. "purpose of its own, measured motion, strode after me"
afraid and guilty, contrasts to previous moods, wants to hide away and feels like intruder
1. "stole and covert"
mood upturned due to his experience, synister tone again, reminds him of his own mortality
1. "in grave and serious mood"
proves great impact, scarred him
1. "for many days"
vague language shows narrator cant comprehend what hes seen, so taken back by the experience
1. "dim and undetermined sense of unknown modes of being"
feels unsettled and alone, contrasting to inital mood
1. "there hung a darkness, call it solitude"
no longer sees nature as beautiful, more of an ugly image created
1. "no pleasant image of trees, of sea or sky"
nature described as powerful, conscious being that can control mankind
1. "but huge and mighty forms, that do not live like living men"
unsettling image, helps us to empathise with him, contrast to tone and mood at start
1. "trouble to my dreams"

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Extract from the Prelude - William Wordsworth

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